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Robin turned off the lights and closed the door to his classroom after a long day. The weather was overcast, and the kids were more unruly than normal. After lunch seemed like the hardest time of the day.
His back was hurting, his shoulders were tense, and he was ready to get home and relax. First, he had to arrange Roland's weekend plans with Regina. Since, the camping trip, he'd had minimal contact with her or Henry.
The school was testing, and their lunch schedules had been changed. He took the later lunch and she took the earlier slot. They barely waved to one another before they were whisked away to another task.
Roland and Granny had been meeting Robin as a school each afternoon to go for ice cream and Roland's art class. It was a new class and the boy begged and begged for before he gave in. Today, there was no class. So, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to make a plan.
He hung his briefcase over his shoulder and peeked in to see Regina typing on her computer. She looked relaxed and focused. Her feet were bare and crossed under the little table. Her table held her binders and she stopped to jot something down before returning to typing.
He knocked lightly and saw her jump. She looked startled and a bit scared. Everything seemed to scare her lately. Midway through the week he'd snuck up on her unintentionally twice in passing and she'd nearly screamed.
Each time, he wondered what she'd dealt with in the past. It was clear there was something, but he'd been promising himself to stop bringing it up. It only seemed to make it worse. He'd had many conversations with John and Maggie about it. They all suggested she see a counselor and for him to stay out of it. But Robin felt he couldn't let it go. He cared too much.
"Sorry. Do you have a minute?" Her eyes were wary, she typed a few words and closed her laptop case. She rubbed her eyes briefly and gestured for him to come in.
"Sure. What's up?" It didn't escape him that she crossed her arms when he stepped into the room. Her eyes darted behind him and settled on his hands.
He saw her tense when he stood in front of her, so he sat down in one of the tiny chairs lined in front of her desk. "I wanted to talk about this weekend." He slid his bag onto another chair next to him.
With a sigh, she brought her hands up to her face and rubbed lightly. "I almost forgot. I'll have to go shopping tomorrow."
"Here," he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and pulled out a few bills and put them on the desk in front of her. "I'd be happy to cover supplies. I don't want Roland to be a burden."
"Robin, that's generous but it's too much and he's not a burden." She attempted to give him his money back, but he covered her hand with his.
"Please, take it. Get whatever you need. What time should I bring him?"
"I suppose dinner will be ruined with the snacks from the movies Henry picked. How about 5?" A small smile played on her lips. He squeezed her hand lightly still touching her.
"I can do that. What's on the agenda?" He didn't let her hand go. Instead, his fingers lightly caressed her skin as she laid out their plans.
"Well," she began looking down at their joined hands. "Movie night, scouting through the woods, and ice cream Sundaes." With her last phrase, she smirked.
He couldn't help but smile, "Roland will be pleased. He's been obsessed with the ice cream parlor since it started getting hotter. Do you need anything?"
She asked, "Do you?"
"I'm sorry?" His eyes focused on his hands now linking fingers with hers. He knew it wasn't right, but it felt nice.
"When was the last time you were away from Roland for a weekend?"
"Never," he admitted.
"I thought so. What will you do while he's with me?" To his surprise, she brought her other hand up and started playing with a loose string on the sleeve of his sweater.
"I'm not sure. I'm used to having him around. Even when…" He stopped himself from mentioning Marian, but it was hard to avoid. "I'm usually the one to care for him," he finished.
His pain was obvious, but she seemed to easily distract him. "When Henry was little, he'd spend weekends with my father. They'd go to a baseball game or to the zoo. My father would tell him stories about pirates and Neverland.
"I'd spend the whole weekend in my pajamas and cook or I would play the piano. I had a keyboard and I'd spend hours playing while Simon was at work."
He smiled at the memory and asked, "Sounds lovely, who's Simon? Your husband?"
At the sound of his name, her eyes widened, and she jerked her hands away from him. "He was," she said.
"Regina." He stood when she pushed from her desk and walked to the window. She wrapped her arms around her and leaned on the window sill. Outside the rain fell in small cascading drops. The ground slowly darkening, and the sun was disappearing behind a dark grey cloud.
A tear slid down her face when he walked to the window and faced her. "Hey, you don't have to talk about it." He brought his hand to her back and provided some comfort. For a few minutes, they stood like that in quiet. The rain pelting on the school roof echoed.
"I have some work I need to get done on the house. That's what I'll do with my weekend when I'm not thinking about Roland being a bother." When she looked at him, he winked.
"He's no bother." She took a breath, "Robin, I…" She shook her head and lowered her forehead on his shoulder. His instinct was to pull her in and wrap his arms around her.
"I'm here for you. It's gonna be okay," he murmured into her hair. Inhaling her, he let himself close his eyes and wonder what it would be like to have her like this all the time. He couldn't stop thinking about her or worrying about Henry. He was starting to lose sleep.
"It's not that simple," she said. After a minute or two, she surrendered and let her arms rest around him.
"What's troubling you? I worry about you." He pulled her in tighter and tried to provide a secure hold to make her more comfortable. Selfish reasons for having her close played a part too.
She didn't respond with words but let her head rest on his shoulder and let her body lean into him. After a moment, he pulled back to look at her tearful eyes. She tried to speak but cleared her throat.
"When you're ready, I'm willing to listen," he said. He leaned in to kiss her cheek softly. Regina turned her head slightly and he was a touch from kissing her when they heard a gasp from the doorway.
"I'm so sorry," Maggie said. Standing awkwardly in the doorway, she seemed ready to back away.
Robin stepped back and released Regina who immediately walked across the room to a cubby. Picking up a stack of papers, she handed them to Maggie. "I had all but one student tested. Gail has been absent all week. I contacted Andy to do a home visit."
Maggie nodded, "Thanks. I'll check-in and see what's happening with her. Did you get the invite?"
"I did but I have Henry and Roland this weekend. I'm skipping it. Raincheck?" Regina glanced back at Robin who was looking down at his phone.
"Sure. Let me know. Sorry to interrupt, I didn't mean to…" Her cheeks were red, and she smiled sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it, thanks, Maggie." The woman nodded and rushed out of the room with the stack of tests under her arm.
"I've gotta run. Roland is waiting on me but let me know if there's anything you need. I'll pick it up and drop it off with you for the weekend. I should tell you he hangs a necklace above him while he sleeps."
"A necklace?" Regina went back to sit at her desk and began gathering her belongings.
"His mother gave it to him and he's rather fond of it," he explained. He couldn't help every time he thought of Marian, the vein in his forehead pulsed and his neck tightened.
"I see. I'm sure we can work something out," she said not looking at him. The interrupted kiss caused her to withdraw. She was putting her notebooks in the cubby under her desk. Her planner was put into the drawer as she unplugged her laptop and put it into her bag.
He stood watching her under his brows as he typed out a text with his thumb to let Granny know he was on his way. "There's something else."
Regina glanced at him as she stood to put a stack of books on a shelf, "Oh?" She didn't stop moving as she put the books in a row. A folder with laminated sheets was put into a filing cabinet in the corner he'd not seen before.
"Regina, if Roland is gonna be at your house this weekend, I need to ask something serious." She mumbled an acknowledged Mmmhmm and kept moving around the room. "Could you stop for a minute?" He was frustrated with her busy pacing and tiding up when nothing seemed to need it.
She turned when she deposited a box of crayons into a bin. "I'm sorry, what is it?"
When he had her undivided attention, he asked, "Are there any guns in your house?"
"What?" He saw the defensiveness before it even would register most people.
"Look, I know you've got a lot going on, but I need to make sure Roland stays safe. I never said anything about the gun I saw in the trunk of your car. I didn't feel it was my place, but my son is going in your home. I need to know."
Her face paled a bit and she let out a long sigh, "I keep them in a locked safe. He can't get to them."
"Them? As in plural? Why do you need them?" His curiosity never seemed to stop pushing him into asking personal questions. It was beyond the apparent attraction he held for her. It was a genuine concern.
"That's really none of your business. As I said, they are locked up. If you don't feel comfortable letting Roland stay, you're more than willing to see for yourself."
Was she inviting him to go inspect her house? Who would do that? "It's not that I don't trust you," he tried.
He saw her roll her eyes, "Robin, you have a right to be worried, but I'd never put him or Henry at risk. They are strictly for protection, nothing more."
"Regina, I've tried really hard to stay out of it, but I can't help it. What's happened to you? Please, tell me." He took her hands and pulled her to him. She tried to take steps back, but he held to her tightly.
"I have to go, Henry is waiting for me. Please, let me go." He held tighter until her steps ended with her back to the wall. When her back hit the wall, she yelped and tried to push away. "Please," she began to beg.
"Hey," he said in a hushed tone. He took her face in his hands, "I'm not gonna hurt you. I'd never do that. Shh," he cooed when she began to shake. "It's alright." His eyes met hers and he saw the fear behind her mask.
Overcome with emotion or maybe stress, she reached up and grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in until he stumbled forward, and she kissed him. For a moment, they stood unmoving. Lips locked, he could taste the tea she's been drinking. He could smell her perfume as his head lightened.
When she sighed, he leaned in and drew her closer. His lips coaxed hers open. They went from nibbles to longer desperately slow kisses. Robin felt a surge of helplessness that she'd initiated this. He wasn't sure how far to push it.
A part of him felt wrong for allowing himself to indulge. Another part of him wanted to forget all inhibitions and devour her. He was afraid he'd scare her if he went either way. He'd been feeling vulnerable since Marian filed for divorce and his feelings were fragile.
When her arms wrapped around his waist and under his coat and she was flush against him, something snapped his brain. He opened and tasted, his hands clutched her hips, and his body nearly crushed her against the wall.
It felt like several minutes passed when he rocked into her as he teased, tested, tasted. His fingers plunged into her hair to hold her with one hand and slid to the back of her neck to change the angle of the kiss.
Robin felt her hands untuck his shirt and slide up his back with her nails sliding along the way leaving erotic tingling sensations in their wake. He felt tingles in his belly as she wrapped her fingers over his shoulders. In response, his lips separated from hers and closed over the nape of her neck.
Her pulse was beating radically, her breaths came in short spurts, and she felt like she could fall over at any minute. When her legs began to buckle, he reached down and picked her up by the back of her thighs. Her legs wrapped around his waist.
She put her fingers through his hair to pull him back up to meet her waiting mouth. His hands were molding her hips, breasts, and rested on her face. His mind suddenly realized what he was doing and snapped back. He slowed the kiss in increments until there was nothing but soft touches as their breathing slowed.
When he felt calm, he rested his forehead on hers and took deep breaths as she smoothed down her dress. He heard her do the same and opened his eyes to see her staring at him. Her eyes were full of doubt and apprehension.
"I'm sorry," she said and burst into tears. She buried her face under his jacket against his chest as she released soft sobs. The only thing he could do was hold her despite the awkwardness of their position.
"It's okay, shh, please don't cry," he murmured into her ear. He caressed soft circles with his fingers along her back and up and down her arms. "I wish you could trust me enough to confide in me," he whispered.
It only made her cry harder and it broke his heart. He didn't say another word as she fell apart against him.
When she was calm, he set her down and walked her to her car after they gathered their things. She put her bag in the back and had her jacket wrapped around her to shield her from the wind. "I…"
Robin reached up and put a finger over her lips, "Don't." He slid her hair behind her ear, "Go home and rest. I'll stop by on Friday if that works for you," he smiled.
Regina nodded, "Okay." He leaned forward and kissed her and helped her into her car. When he closed the door, he stood until she pulled out of the parking lot and drove down the street.
A cut he hadn't known split open and it felt like he was bleeding. That bit of affection she'd shown him, opened the wound Marian gashed in him. It had been a long time since he'd felt that connection with someone. He was scared to crave any more than she gave him.
He sat in his car for several minutes before he felt calm and settled enough to pick up Roland.
In a shadowed alley, Simon sat on a closed trash bin seething. His face was red, and his blood pressure was elevated. He clenched his fists and watched Sabrina with another man.
The way he kept his hand at her lower back walking through the parking lot made his neck ache. The hairs on the back of his neck rose, he felt tingles all over his head, his nostrils flared.
Simon watched as Sabrina put her bag in the backseat of her car and turn. The look on her face puzzled him, though. He'd rarely seen her look so apologetic, so sincere. Usually, she kept her eyes down and away from him.
As he pulled up the binoculars and looked inside, he could see more clearly. Tears were in her eyes; her lip trembled a little. He sized up the man who now held his finger over her mouth. He'd gage him at 5'8 or 5'9 maybe 170 give or take. It was hard to tell with his thick coat.
Simon watched intently as the man leaned in and kissed Sabrina. He felt his blood boil as he watched her get into the car and drive away. His instinct was to run out and attack the man who dared put his hands on his wife, but he had to bide his time.
Instead, he watched the man sit in his car and rest his head on the steering wheel. For minutes, he didn't move, and Simon could only wonder what relationship he shared with his beloved Sabrina. What was she called here? Where was his son?
When the man drove out of the lot, he emerged from the alley and walked to the side door of the school he saw them exit. He tried the door, but it was locked. "Damn," he cursed.
Rushing, he jumped into his jeep and pulled the black hoodie over his head. Driving down the main street, he saw the man's car. Unable to stop himself, he followed at a distance.
The man stopped at a bed and breakfast, Simon thought it was curious. Stopping a few blocks away, he watched the man exit and run inside avoiding the downfall of rain that just began.
For twenty minutes, Simon waited until the man came running out with a small boy huddled in a blanket at his side. When they were in the car, Simon started his car and followed them home. The house was modest, big enough to be of some value. The boy was ushered in, and the lights in the house turned on.
Simon parked his jeep several blocks down the road and put on a raincoat he kept for instances like this. Two hours later, he trudged through the mud and made camp fifty feet outside of Robin's front door.
"Now, I wait," he said. His plan was going to be perfect.